At the close of
2 Timothy 1 the Apostle had written, "all they which are in Asia be turned away from me", but Onesiphorus had remained faithful to him, "and was not ashamed of his chain as the prisoner of Christ Jesus (
2 Tim. 1:15-18). If we cannot rely on the support of saints in times of difficulty and crisis, we can always rely on the Lord to be sustained with the grace that abides in Him, and that was given to us by God in Him before the ages of time. We are not to be strong in ourselves, else we shall certainly fail, but we are to draw upon God's resources in Christ.
This exhortation has the last days specially in view, for the epistle was written to tell us of the conditions of these last days, and of the divine resources that are available in Christ to enable us to be faithful to the Lord, and to follow the divine directions given for those who desire to be faithful amidst the departure from the truth that had been ministered by Paul. Only as we are strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus shall we be able to separate from the iniquity that abounds in the professing church, and "follow righteousness, faith, love, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (
2 Tim. 2:19-22).